European Kingdoms

Celtic Tribes

Bebryces
/ Berybraces (Gauls)

In
general terms, the Romans
coined the name 'Gaul' to describe the
Celtic tribes of what is now
central, northern and eastern
France. The Gauls were
divided from the
Belgae to the north
by the Marne and the Seine, and from the Aquitani to the south by the River
Garonne. By the middle of the first century BC, the Bebryces were a minor tribe
that was occupying the territory in the far south-eastern corner of France, to
the south-west of Narbonne, hemmed in between the Mediterranean and the eastern
Pyrenees. They were neighboured to the north by the
Sordones and to the south
by the Indicetes tribe of Iberians.

The Bebryces tribal name appears to originate with another totem animal.
King Brochfael of sixth century AD
Powys in
Britain also had a name that was linked with a totem animal. The core of
Bebryces is *bebro-, meaning 'beaver' (in proto-Celtic) The name would break
down as Beber (beaver) plus '-yc' or '-ic' (an adjective-forming suffix,
shown in modern Welsh as '-ig') plus the Latin suffix, '-es' (added by the
Romans). In modern parlance, they would be 'like a beaver', or beaverish.

This small tribe should not be confused with the better-attested Bebryces
of Bythinia. Instead they were perhaps the most southerly-based of all Celtic
tribes outside Iberia, although they had travelled a long way to get there.
Also known as the Berybraces (or Beribraces), they were part of the early
Hallstatt expansion of Celtic tribes of the sixth century BC. They headed
south-west from central Germany or
Bohemia
towards the Pyrenees, and passing over the mountains, they entered Iberia.
The Bebryces of the lower Narbonensis were the remnant of this migration.

The Bebryces belong to the Hallstatt culture of
Celts, along with
the Boii,
Cotini,
Harii,
Helisii,
Helveconae,
Manimi,
Naharvali,
Osi, and at least
some elements of the later
Lugii. The
Bebryces are to be found around the central German lands or in
Bohemia. They
and other Celts begin an expansion around this time that sees them migrate
south-westwards, towards southern
France,
the Pyrenees, and into Iberia. As they are primarily cattle herders, they
take their herds with them, greatly supplementing their diet with milk,
fatty cheese, and beef.

The landscape of Bohemia is and was defined by wooded
mountainsides and extensive farming land - a green and fertile
area at the centre of Europe and of the Hallstatt culture

Once in Iberia, they settle around the headwaters of the
Duero, Tagus, Guadiana, and Turia rivers, all along what is now the western
Spanish
border with
Portugal.
Fragments of the tribe are probably left along their route as groups drop out
of the migration, largely being absorbed by other Celts. One group is large
enough to survive in its own right, with its name intact, and it is this
group that, in the first century BC, can be found living in the southern
Narbonensis.

56 BC

When war flares up again in Gaul, triggered by Publius
Licinius Crassus and the Seventh Legion in the territory of the
Andes,
Caesar has to turn back from his journey to Illyrium to handle the problem.
Crassus is sent to Aquitania to subdue the tribes there and prevent an
all-out war against stretched Roman troops. Subduing the
Petrocorii along the
way, he recruits auxiliaries from the Gaulish regions of Tolosa, Carcaso,
and Narbo (which includes the tribes of the Bebryces,
Sordones, and
Volcae) before entering
the territory of the
Sotiates.

That tribe has gathered together a large force which attacks the Romans in
a drawn-out and vigorously-contested engagement. The Romans are only just
victorious, having outlasted their hot-headed Celtic opponents in terms of
stamina. The tribe's oppidum is besieged and they eventually surrender,
despite an attempt by their king, Adcantuannus, to lead his personal retinue
into a death or glory attack and other Celts undermining the siege towers
(thanks to the presence of copper in the region these Celts and their
Aquitani
neighbours are expert miners).

The Garonne in south-western France provided a defining line
between the lands of the Gauls to the north and those of the
Aquitani to the south, although by the first century BC this
definition had blurred somewhat

Crassus marches into the territories of the
Vocates
and Tarusates. They prove to be a rather more difficult opponent. The campaign
against the Sotiates has given them time to raise troops from northern Iberia,
many of which had fought with Quintus Sertorius, a rebellious governor of
Spain who defied Rome for a decade, and they have learnt a great deal from
that experience. They outnumber Crassus perhaps by ten-to-one and hold a very
strong position which prevents him from gathering supplies for his men.

The only option (aside from an unthinkable retreat) is to engage them in battle,
despite the odds. Pinning them down at the front, he sends cavalry around to
their rear to scout out any weakness. Their entirely unguarded rear is attacked
and, with Romans pressing from two sides, the Aquitani are forced to surrender
with heavy casualties. When news of this defeat spreads, the majority of the
tribes of Aquitania surrender to Crassus, including the Ausci,
Bigerriones,
Cocosates,
Elusates, Garites,
Garumni,
Preciani,
Suburates,
Tarbelli,
Tarusates, and Vocasates.

With this action, southern Gaul and Aquitania have been brought under
Roman
domination, and the history of its population of
Celts
is tied to that of the empire.